Enclosure Upgrade! Part 3

Now that the background is ready to put in, it is time to assemble the new enclosure. I used a terrarium-safe cleaner to wipe down the enclosure. Its previous inhabitant was a turtle, so cleaning before assembly was an absolute must to make sure Marbles stays healthy and happy.

Next I added the substrate. I had previously had Marbles on coconut fiber when she was in the 20 gallon enclosure, so I decided to keep her on the same type of substrate. I added around 3 inches spread around evenly.

 After adding in her hides and plants, Marbles ended up loving her new enclosure! I am super happy with how it turned out! It looks beautiful, it is functional, Marbles is happy, she can stretch out and explore now.










Marbles also is a total drama queen and her new favorite place to hang out is at the top of the rock background.

Ball Python Enclosure Background Part #1

Today I started the make the background for my snake's enclosure. I have seen a couple of methods for this but I decided to go with the expanding foam method.

*Please keep in mind this is just a journal of how I am doing things not a how-to*

1.  I put my 20 gallon long on its side after taking off the lid and locking clips. The face its resting on will be the back wall.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I got my two pieces of cork bark and cut them down to sizes that would fit my tank and my design.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. I then arranged the pieces to make a background. I figured that the large round piece wouldn't fit so I decided it'd serve better as a hide.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   I cleaned the glass with rubbing alcohol. I put my rubber gloves on and got to work with Great Stuff expanding foam that I got from the local hardware store.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. About 10 minutes later, I was done. I foamed all the areas around the cork bark and all the glass. I have to wait 8 hours for it to cure before I can continue.

Next steps:

• Carving the foam
• Painting the foam with silicone
• Added Zoo Med Eco Earth substrate to the silicone.

Ball Python Setup #1

Buying for a ball python can be cheap or expensive- depending on how much you want to spend. In all practicality, ball pythons are perfectly fine living in a rack system. But, I'd like to have mine in a tank because its more aesthetically appealing to me and more enriching for the snake.

So this blog series will be about my experience buying and setting up my ball python enclosure.

The first items I bought were an aquarium and a screen top.

Aquarium vs Reptile Enclosure

There are a few options when it comes to enclosure type that both get the job done.

Reptile Enclosure

• Front opening
• Screen Top
• Glass
• More expensive

Aquarium

• Open top
• Glass
• Cheap

I personally opted for the aquarium because it was cheaper and I like the glass look of the aquarium more than the black bars that help open the front doors of the reptile enclosures.

Size

From what I was told at the reptile expo I went to, a ball python can live its entire life in a 20 gallon long, so that's what I bought.

Screen Tops

There are a plethora of options when it comes to screen lids: mesh cover, mesh covered with a square hinge, and mesh cover half hinged are some that I found to be the most common. I chose the plain mesh cover just due to costs. Because I have an aquarium that does not have grooves for a slide in lid, this one worked best for me as it just fit over the top of the aquarium.